That’s What Friends Do
by remixedthoughts
Summary: Since Jade and Beck had finally agreed on staying just friends, Jade had seemed more distant, especially to Tori. One day, Jade seems all friendly to her and the trend continues throughout the coming weeks. At first, Tori just thought she missed having someone she loved at her side and decided to use her frenemy to fill that space. But is it something more?
1. Chapter 1

"Vega." A rude, demanding and rather intimidating voice said.

"Uh-oh." A less aggressive, more polite voice muttered under her breath.

Tori, the nicer one, gently closed her locker and adjusted the bag slung over her shoulder.

Jade West, the scarier one, slowed her footsteps to a stop in front of Tori Vega, her arm gripping her bag's strap.

"Wanna come eat with Robbie, André and I at Nozu's for lunch?" Jade offered, an unsettlingly inviting smile on her face.

Tori eyed Jade with suspicion. "You seem nice. It's unsettling, are you okay?"

"Of course I am!" She exclaimed.

Tori looked baffled. "Alright, if it'll stop your sudden friendly episode."

* * *

Jade and Tori arrived at Nozu's relatively quickly, thanks to Jade. Tori still hadn't gotten her drivers license, so she rode with Jade. They rode in an uncomfortable but not unsettling silence. Tori had her fist against the side of her forehead, her head tilted towards Jade. She was examining her. Jade was acting nice to her... Well, that one interaction at her locker seemed nice. Maybe she was just in a good mood? Whatever it was, Tori was unsettled.

She wasn't unfamiliar with Jade's posture whole she drove, they had shared their times together panicking and yelling in cars because of their friends weird shenanigans.

Jade was tapping her fingers on the steering wheel impatiently, her back leaning against the seat. She seemed calm.

It was odd.

Jade glanced sideways at Tori a few minutes before they arrived at Nozu's.

"Enjoy the view?" She asked sarcastically, raising her eybrow.

Tori quickly sat up and looked out of the window, her face flushing with embarrassment. Had it really been that obvious..?

When they walked into Nozu's, Tori immediately noticed the lack of Robbie and André in the restaurant.

"Hey," Tori said, following Jade to a seat at the horseshoe-shaped bar in the middle of the dining area. "I thought you said Robbie and André were gonna be here."

"Hah-hah." Jade muttered quietly, setting her bag next to her seat on the floor.

"Hah-hah?" Tori repeated, setting her bag down, too.

"Yeah, did I say it in French?"

"No, I-"

"What can I get you two ladies to drink?" A waiter suddenly said, making Tori jump a little.

"Water," They replied in unison.

"Alright, I'll be back with that." The waiter said, walking off.

"Where are Robbie and André?" Tori asked.

"Not here," Jade said with a snort.

"Give me a direct answer!"

Jade turned and looked Tori straight in the eyes. The gaze lingered a beat too long before Jade said anything. "Not here," She repeated, turning back to the table.

Tori scoffed and set her hands in her lap. "Why did you bring me here? And why did you _trick_ me into coming?"

"Because I knew you wouldn't have come if I asked you to just come with me."

"Well you don't know that!"

There was a moment of silence between them. Jade had arched her eyebrow at Tori without turning to look at her. Tori saw it and huffed in defeat.

"Okay fine maybe I wouldn't have," She rushed. "Why did you bring me here?"

Jade was silent. Besides the intense attempt to suppress a grin.

"Oh so you're just not going to answer me? I see how it is." Tori turned away slightly and crossed her arms, glancing down when the waiter set down two glasses of water between her and Jade.

"Okay I can't be sile—"

"AAAUUGHHHHHHH." Jade groaned dramatically, tilting her head back.

Tori looked at Jade with her eyebrow raised.

"Can't you just appreciate the fact I brought you to Nozu's?" Jade asked. Tori couldn't tell if Jade was annoyed or offended.

"Fine, fine. I'll appreciate it. But can you at least tell me why you brought me here?"

"To get our nails painted—what do you think, Vega? I'm taking you out to eat. I'm paying, by the way."

There was silence between them until the waiter came back for their orders. They ordered and waited in awkward silence.

_Taking me out to eat? _Tori wondered. _I thought that was only stuff that a boyfriend would do to a girlfriend. I guess Jade misses it, since she and Beck officially put an end to their relationship bickering. Maybe she just misses going out with someone she loves...__No, she wouldn't love me! Right..? She's a girl—_I'm _a girl... That... _Tori was lost in her thoughts. She wanted to believe that Jade was just being nice, but she felt it couldn't just end there. Was there something more..?

"Vega." Jade's demanding voice snapped Tori back to reality. "Your food," She nudged the bowl closer to Tori. "eat it."

"Oh, right. Sorry," Tori mumbled, eating her food in silence. She couldn't help but feel like Jade was glancing at her from the corner of her eye.

* * *

After Jade payed and the two drove back to school, the day went on as normal.

Tori had drove home with Trina, which was extremely exhausting.

It wasn't too bad, though. Tori had went home with barely any homework, besides some core stuff, like History and Math. It was pretty easy, and she had finished it in abut an hour.

Tori was laying on her couch, barely paying attention to the TV that was on. A series of loud, strong thumps on the door make Tori sit up, alarmed.

"VEGA!" An ever-so familiar voice yelled.

"DOOR'S OPEN!" Tori telled back.

Jade flung open the door and slammed it shut without turning around.

"Nice to see you too," Tori said, following Jade with her eyes as she sat on the other couch. She seemed to be back to her normal, grouchy, gank-y self.

"I'm bored." She stated flatly.

"And I should do what about that?"

"Entertain me."

"But- how would I do that?"

"I dunno! Break something. Hurt yourself. Fall down your stairs dramatically and hit your head on your piano. Something!"

"I will gladly pass on all of those."

Jade groaned loudly and kicked her feet up on the coffee table in front of the couches.

"Why'd you come over?" Tori asked after a moment of silence.

"I'm bored."

"I've been told,"

"There's nothing to do! I don't have to study for anything, I don't have any plans, no one wants to hang out with me or go out to do something with me besides Cat and I cannot stand another moment with that ball of sunshine and sparkles today." Jade ranted.

"So you came to me for a friend?"

"When you put it that way it makes hanging out with Cat sound a _whole _lot better."

"Oh come on! You took me out to lunch today! That's something friends do."

Jade stared at the TV with narrowed eyes. The look in them was distant, however. Like they were focused on something far more complex than the TV screen.

Tori looked at Jade as she was silent, noticing how she was slumped and her arms were crossed over her stomach and how messy her hair was... Yet she seemed so coordinated. It was...

"Friends." Jade said. "Yeah, friends. Maybe we can be that." She said slowly, like the taste of thethe sentence was too bitter to handle at once, so she slowed it down to comprehend it.

"Wait, really?"

Jade was silent again. They were silent for a long time. Tori kept staring at Jade with intense eyes, trying to read her expression or get any detail from her posture to help her figure out what she was really thinking.

"You've been staring." Jade said finally. Tori was silent, still staring at her for a few heartbeats too long.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry... musta dozed off-" Tori lied.

"Yeah," Jade dismissed. Somehow Tori just knew that Jade knew she lied.

They were silent for a while. A long while.

During that long while, Tori had still been looking at Jade. In the time that felt like hours of their silence, Jade seemed to calm down. Her shoulders became less tense, her eyebrows unfurrowed, she no longer glared.

Suddenly, Jade stood up, grabbing her back and swinging it over her shoulder in one quick motion.

"Later, Vega." Jade said, slamming the door as she left.

Tori layed there in shocked silence until she finally drifted off to sleep, unable to get the image of Jade out of her mind.

* * *

**_hi there! this is just sorta a test, i've wanted to write a jori fic for a few days now and i thought i should get around to it! if people read this, i'd love to hear feedback on what you liked and didn't like! i'll do my best to update this story frequently and keep it ~spicy~_**

**_anyway, have a lovely day or night, stay safe~!_**


	2. Chapter 2

It was finally the weekend. Homework was sparse since the upcoming plays were being delayed due to the Head Of Student Activities, Sikowitz, had gotten the flu and there weren't any suitable substitutes.

Tori had been at home most of the day after school in comfortable clothes; a random baggy band-tee and a sweatpants. Her hair was sort of messy. She was sitting on her couch with her laptop on her legs. She was browsing the internet, her phone on the armrest beside her.

Then her phone buzzed.

At first she thought it wa sher dad telling her she'd be home late or her mom asking if there was enough food at home for her and Trina to have for dinner. Then she saw who it was from.

Jade.

_The _Jade West texted her first. There didn't seem to be a trace of rudeness in it either. To be fair, it was only three words. But they were about as polite as her "from certain angles" compliment. It was good enough. The text read:

_i'm coming over_

Tori cocked an eyebrow at the ominous text. She shruggef at it and sent a text back:

_Alright, door's unlocked._

Tori got up and actually unlocked the door and sat back down and waited for Jade to arrive.

* * *

About fifteen minutes later, three aggressive and loud knocks startled Tori back to the world around her. She opened her mouth to say something, turning her head to the door. Jade opened the door and closed it after her.

"Welcome back," Tori greeted as Jade set her bag between the gap in both of the couches. She sat on the edge of the same couch Tori was on.

Tori closed her laptop and set it on the coffee table in front of her.

"What brings you here?" Tori asked.

"Dunno." Jade dismissed.

"Oh come on, you came here Monday night and now you're here again. What's up?"

Jade was silent for a long while. Tori stared at her, waiting for a response. Jade looked at the TV, which was turned off.

"Please?" Tori said quietly.

Jade snapped her head to look at Tori. The anger in her eyes almost seemed to subside for a moment, but it was so quick that Tori had thought that it was her imagination.

Jade sighed.

"I want to try to spend more time with you." Jade mumbled.

Tori looked at her in disbelief. "_You—_Want to spend time with _me_?" She asked.

"I said more time, not time in general." Jade snapped.

"Same difference."

They were silent again.

"Why do you want to spend more time with me?" Tori finally asked.

"Because." Jade answered simply.

"Because...?"

Jade thought about her answer. She looked like she was carefully flipping through different words to put them into a sentence that left open ends but still got the point across.

"You're the only person that tolerates me in a way that's friendly." Jade said cautiously.

"Like Beck did?" Tori blurted without thinking. She immediately winced as she said it, and noticed how Jade seemed to get more upset. "I— I didn't mean anything bad by that, I just meant—" She stammered, trying to save her situation.

"No, I get it. You... kind of do." Jade said, avoiding eye contact with Tori.

Tori noticed how Jade had moved her head in a way that hid her face with her hair.

"You mean that you, the fiery, angry, rude, almighty Jade West, enjoys the presence of her nemesis Tori Vega?" Tori said, scooting closer to Jade to annoy her.

"I never said that!" She retorted.

"When you dumb it down, that's basically what you said."

Jade scoffed. "Look, I just want someone who can toletate my presence right now, okay?" She snapped, keeping her face out of Tori's view. "Even if we don't talk."

Tori sat up straight and thought in their odd but comfortable silence.

_I make Jade feel the same way that Beck made her feel, before they broke up... Does she like being around me? Is she FINALLY accepting that we're FRIENDS? _

Tori thought, a smile spreading across her face.

* * *

It felt like hours had passed, and Jade only got up twice. Once to get water and another to use the bathroom. It was pretty late now, almost 11 p.m.

"It's getting late," Tori finally said.

Jade was silent. Almost too silent. Tori got up and walked around the back of the couch and crouched beside Jade between the two couches.

Jade was asleep.

Tori stared at her for a moment. A long moment.

Jade looked so peaceful when she was asleep. Her face wasn't filled with protective ferocity. Her eyebrows weren't furrowed, her lips weren't tight with the urge to send an insult at someone talking to her.

It was almost... No, Tori shook the thought out of her mind. She took a blanket from the other couch and set it over her and picked up her phone and laptop. She turned off all of the lights and walked upstairs to her room and fell asleep.

* * *

**_hey there guys! i'm back with another chapter! i hope you enjoyed this chapter. things are starting off slow, but jade is trying to subtly reveal her true feelings about tori—anyway, i hope you guys have a good day/night, goodbye~!_**


	3. Chapter 3

**_note: these chapters are witten in 3rd-person limited—sometimes they're third-person tori and sometimes they're third-person jade. i'll start stating that at the beginning of each chapter so there's no confusion_**

* * *

**_Jade's pov:_**

It was almost afteroon when Tori woke up. Jade was relieved—she was starting to get impatient. She had slept on the couch—by accident—which was completely embarrassing for her. Plus, it was pretty uncomfortable. The was she slept, that way. The couch was pretty comfortable on it's own.

"Jade?" Tori's weak, half-asleep voice broke the annoying silence of the house.

"Vega," Jade called mockingly.

"Comforting," Tori muttered to herself.

Jade was still on the couch, staring at the turned-off TV. Her arms were crossed over her chest, and her hair was pretty messy. She focused on the soft thumps of Tori walking around, down the stairs and into the kitchen.

_I still can't believe I fell asleep in Tori's house. How hasn't she noticed yet... Guess she really is that dumb, huh? _Jade thought to herself, huffing out of her nose in a silent laugh.

"Did you really stay here all night?" Tori asked. Miraculously, Jade held back on a sarcastic remark. "Won't your parents be worried?"

Jade thought on that last sentence.

"No." She said flatly. "That's the whole reason I've been coming here." _No it's not._ "I've been getting in fights with them so often.. I had enough last night. I guess you're the only person willing to tolerate me for more than a minute." Jade explained, focusing on Tori's wandering footsteps, until she felt the weight shift not too far away from her. She looked to her left and saw Tori in her pajamas with a cup of coffee in her hands. Her hair was messy.

_Cute._

"I'm sorry," Tori said, sipping her coffee.

"It's whatever... Thanks for not kicking me out."

"I couldn't do that to a friend," Tori said in a joking voice, nudging Jade with her elbow.

"Oh shut up,"

Tori laughed. It sounded too close to a giggle.

"Well, it's almost lunch time. Wanna go get something?" Tori offered after she finished her coffee.

"Sure,"

Tori stood and walked to the stair, setting her coffee cup down on the coffee table in front of them.

"Wait, where's your bathroom?" Jade asked.

"Through that door, first door on the left."

Jade nodded and picked up her bag and walked swiftly towards it.

When she was in the bathroom, she brushed through her hair with the brush she brought along—and basically got ready normally. She brought a spare set of clothes, a tooth brush and tooth paste.

_This is so odd, _Jade though as she got ready. _I don't hate it though..._

Jade was ready way before Tori was. Probably because Tori took a shower. _Very impressive of you, Jade, _She insulted herself.

"Alright, where do you wanna go?" Jade said when Tori was finally done.

"Karaoke-Dokie?" Tori suggested.

"We aren't singing." Jade said, walking towards the door.

"Okay, okay!"

They both got into Jade's carstarted driving to Karaoke-Dokie. Jade could feel Tori's gaze on her. _Oh god she's staring at me again why does she do that she doesn't think _I'm _pretty does she? No, this is one sided. She doesn't think I'm pretty for real... not enough to make her stare at me... that's something someone would do to their crush. She doesn't like me she doesn't like me she doesn't like me she doesn't like me she doesn't-_

"Hey, Vega."

"Gah! What? What is it-"

"Take a picture, it'll last longer."

"Re- uh, well.."

"It was a joke, Vega." _Unless you actually wanted to... god that'd be cute, wouldn't it—no, shut up, she doesn't like you, you idiot._

"Right! Right, I know!"

They rode in silence for the rest of the ride.

* * *

Karaoke-Dokie wasn't much fun. Some half-decent singers performed some half-decent songs while Jade half-listened. The food was pretty good, though.

After Jade drove Tori home, she told her she'd be going home too.

What actually ended up happening was that Jade drove to a nearby gas station and sat in the parking lot.

She was arguing with herself about Tori—she was such a good person. She had a pretty good singing voice, she was nice for the most part and she was considerate and cared for her friends... But Jade wanted her. She wanted them to be together... she wanted that stupid half-Latina and that want was killing her.

_Why would SHE want ME? I'm a rude piece of shit... All I do is insult her- that's no way to get a girlfriend. Oh... a girlfriend. Not only would that never happen but I'd be in a world of hurt if anyone found I had feelings for a girl. Especially someone like Tori... God it's so DUMB—_

Then her phone dinged.

**_tori_**

_4:29 pm_

_Hey. I know you aren't at your house yet. What's up?_

Her heart skipped a beat. How'd she know she wasn't home?

_how'd you know that?_

Jade sent. She waited for a reply.

_You left your location on on theSlap. I qas getting anxious, because of what you told me about your parents so I checked. You've been at a gas station for 20 minutes._

_J: so? you shouldn't care about me vega._

_T: You're my friend. I care about you._

"I care about you." Jade whispered. She realized she'd been staring at the message for a few minutes.

_T: What's happening, Jade?_

_J: i'm conflicted_

_T: About..?_

_J: feelings. i can't figure them out and it's killing me._

_J: IGNORE THAT I'M NOT GETTING WEAK I SWEAR I'M JUST HAVING A MOMENT_

_T: Calm down, Jade. It's ok. My door's unlocked if you need to come over ok?_

_Jade stared at the screen with narrowed, watering eyes. Minutes passed._

_J: ok. thank you_

Jade still sat there, setting her phone in the passenger seat. She sunk down in her seat, hiding her face in her hands.

_This is so dumb. You shouldn't feel like this._

Eventually she started her car and drove to Tori's house.

* * *

Jade forced the door open and slammed it shut.

"Aww, Jade came to visit me again!" Tori joked. Jade glared at her, but when she looked into the half-Latina's coffee-brown eyes, she saw sympathy in her eyes. When she scanned the rest of the house, she saw Trina doing._.._ Trina stuff in the kitchen.

Tori was trying to cover up why she was here.

Jade's shoulders relaxed when she realized that. She sat beside Tori, setting her bag on the floor in front of her.

Tori pulled out her phone and started typing. Jade narrowed her eyes at her but decided not to question it. Until her phone dinged. She didn't look at the notification until she was in her texting app, because she knew it was Tori.

_T: Wait until Trina's gone. It won't be long. We can ~ talk ~ then, ok?_

Jade nodded to show Tori she saw it and quickly shut off her phone.

Jade sat staring at the TV, listening to Trina fumble around in the kitchen like the weirdo she was.

The warmth from the girl beside her was driving Jade insane. They were close enough to each other that they could feel each other's body heat. Jade wanted to close that gap so bad—she wanted to be in the performer's arms so bad... to be held by her and feel safe.

Finally Trina left, bounding up the stairs in her heels.

Jade felt Tori turn towards her. Jade moved to face her, too.

"Are you gonna go home tonight?" Tori asked. It was... different. Like she was trying to comfort her and make her feel safe and okay.

"I don't want to," Jade said, staring into the half-Latina's eyes.

"You can stay here," Tori offered.

"You sure?"

"Yeah! You could sleep in my room, if you'd like."

Jade stared at her, taking deep breaths to keep her cheeks from getting red.

"I could sleep on the floor, if you have enough pillows and blankets."

"No! I wouldn't make you sleep on the floor,"

"You arent making m-"

"No, no no no. I could sleep on the floor."

"Nope."

"Okay, we can both sleep in my bed."

The knot in Jade's stomach tightened. Of course she'd say that.

"Fine. Just don't get close to me." _Please get close to me. _Jade agreed, looking away at last. Her cheeks flushed with both embarrassment and flattery. Tori was being so unknowingly adorable and nice... It was killing Jade.

"I can order a pizza, if you want."

"That's fine."

Jade sat in silence, still staring at Tori while she ordered a pizza.

"Alright, it'll be here in 20. Can you tell me about you and your parents?" Tori asked.

"Maybe."

"Jade-"

"Kidding!"

"What have you been fighting about?"

"I dunno, it's all dumb stuff. My dad still hates me mostly because of my dreams and my mom's barely been home and no one really cares for me anymore and-" Jade ranted, her voice cracking with sadness. There was a lump in her throat that she couldn't swallow. Her eyes were watering but she couldn't take her eyes off of Tori.

"Jade.. Don't cry-"

"Crying? I'm not crying you're crying," Jade snapped, wiping at her eye with her sleeve.

"I care for you, by the way. If your parents won't, I'll be here for you."

That almost broke Jade.

_Don't say that don't say that, you don't like me you don't you don't you don't..._

"Thank you." Jade finally said, regaining her composure.

Tori held out her arms invitingly. "Gimme a squeeze."

Jade couldn't help the smile that spread across her face. She leaned forward and wrapped her arms around Tori's thin body, her smile fading.

She could stay like this forever.

They stayed like that until the doorbell rang. Tori let go of Jade and Jade reluctantly let go of Tori. Tori got up and opened the door. It was the pizza.

She payed and brought the pizza in, setting it on the kitchen table. Jade got up and sat in one of the side chairs. Tori set a plate in front of her and in front of the seat beside her.

They ate and talked nonsense until the pizza was gone. Tori got ready for bed and Jade sat on the couch, confused on what to do. She didn't have any pajamas.

"Hey, Jade, you don't have any pajamas do you?" Tori yelled from the top of the stairs.

"Nope."

"You can find something in my clothes to wear tonight if you'd like."

Jade sat down for a few more moments before getting up and going to the younger Vega sister's room. She walked to the large dresser in the far left corner of the room and looked through it, taking out a shirt and sweatpants. She walked out and back to the bathroom, changing. She did her normal nighttime routine, brushing her teeth and cleaning her face and using the bathroom. When she was done, she put her clothes in her bag.

Jade walked back to Tori's room and crawled onto the bed. It was set against the wall, which Jade could respect. She sat against the wall, her legs crossed like you were taught to in elementary school.

"Heeeyyyy best frieeend~" Tori said, sitting on the opposite side of the bed.

"Don't call me that."

"Whatever, it's still pretty early. Guess we could hang until someone gets tired."

"Yay. I'm having a sleepover with Tori Vega." Jade said, monotone.

"C'mon! You like spending time with me."

_I hope it's not that obvious..._ "Whatever. Thanks for doing this, though. It's nice to have someone care about me, like you do."

"No prob, bestie."

"Y'know I could rent a hotel room."

"No! No, stay. I won't call you my bestie. But we're friends! I'm friends with Jade West." Tori said in a way that sounded like a celebratory song.

_Cute_.

"Oohh! Jade West has a soft spot for me!" Tori said, flopping onto the bed.

"Alright it's late get in bed now." Jade said, irritated. She got up and turned off the light and crawled back onto the bed, curling up under the sheets.

* * *

**_hey guys! this chapter is...longer. whoops. hope you enjoyed though! i don't think i'll ever have an official schedule for this haha... but enjoy! have a good rest of your day~_**


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